Symbolism In The Thing In The Forest By A. S. Byatt

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A.S. Byatt uses symbolism in her story “The Thing in the Forest” to show how children in England during World War II, like herself, felt and reacted to the events that they knew where bad but didn’t understand. This can easily be shown through the sequencing of the plot, the deeper meanings behind characters and places, and the post effects it had the main characters. Symbolism can be seen in many stories that were written about this time frame, one major difference between Byatt’s short story and those others are her connections to the children of the time. In this story Primrose and Penny are sent to the countryside during the time of the Blitz. Once at the mansion the decide to go play in the forest. The Forest represents fantasy, an escape …show more content…

Byatt starts off by telling the reader that the girl, Primrose and Penny, were evacuees from the air raids on Britain and that they were by themselves. This allows the readers to start getting the feel for the scared children. Upon arriving at the mansion the two girls made a pact to stay together, “It’s like were orphans, she said to Penny. But we’re not. Penny said, If we manage to stay together….” (Byatt 353). Once allowed to go, the girls went out to wonder the forest, showing their independence and pushing away Alys in the process. The Thing appears scarring Primrose and Penny, then Byatt pushes to the girls’ departure. Once the girls came back the when on a tour seeing each other. Showing that they still are not orphans because they still have each other. This can also be shown when we figure out each girl is still single. They decide to go looking for the Thing but have no luck. Primrose gets caught up in the magic of the forest and tries to figure out what Penny meant by the Thing being more real than themselves. What can be concluded from her thoughts were that she has a connection to the forest and she wants to regain what she lost. Penny finds the “den” of the Thing and finds reminds of its victims. She tries to confront the Thing but she concluded nothing else was there for her and that it was their way of

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